I recently helped my daughter strip multi-layers of old paint from a 70 year old weatherboard [clapboard] house in Auckland, New Zealand. After trying most of the things you worked with, we found the most effective was a heat gun [adjust. temp.] with changeable ends for directing the heat where you want it. A broad, flexible blade [about 2-3 inches] will easily lift the softened paint in long strips which fall away from the boards. These are relatively easy to clean up. A long handled paint scraper with a tungsten carbide blade was used for the tougher bits. Followed up with orbital sanding with 80-100 grit paper. First coat was Zinsser Cover Stain Primer Sealer Stain Blocker [oil based], followed by a water based undercoat and two top coats [water based]. Looks terrific and we hope for many years before re-coating. Am enjoying your videos, Melissa.
Yeah I used a heat gun on many parts of my house, such as exterior door trims, corners, moldings, and other tight spots! It gets the job done no matter what. It’s just a bit slow
@@jeffa847 Absolutely right! Some of the old paint was lead based [I tested it], so I wore a 3M filtered mask and protective eyeglasses. Good point. Thanks.
I'm refurbishing an old stone farmers cottage here in the west of Ireland and my problem was multi-layer paint peeling & flaking off the lime render on the external walls... I tried pressure washing but it gouged holes in the soft render so my plan B was to use a 115mm angle grinder with a diamond face-cutting wheel.... 😧 It took me WEEKS to do the whole exterior... but when I was finished people thought I had re-rendered it... it looked so good. 🤗 I also re-plumbed , re-wired & installed a LOT of i sulation... I lowered all the ceilings by 10" to 8' height (std. Sheet size) and built studded walls over all internal walls, again insulating as I went... 6" rigid foil-backed sheets in the external walls & 2 layers of 4" rigid in the ceilings.... presently, I'm building my kitchen cabinets from scratch, shaker doors and all...😈 (At 64y.o. .... I'm gittin too old for this kinda thing ! 🙄😂) From the Emerald Isle 😎👍☘️🍺
Very helpful video. Thanks for showing the effectiveness of a variety of tools. It's great to see a woman doing her own house repair work. I am a single mother and home owner and I do as much of my own repair work as possible. Very empowering. My home has cedar shake siding, so I don't know what the best tool is yet, but your video has got me thinking.
Girl. I need to give you some money. lol. My house is EXACTLY like yours down to the moisture in the wood and layers of paint. I was googling and researching the best way and came across you and you helped me out. I’m literally sanding it by hand and my right arm is like the family guy quagmire episode. Bottom line: you helped me out so much and it’s really awesome to see another woman taking on the tasks I am taking on. I just wanted to say ty you so very much. I’m realizing just now I came across you before and you helped me out when I took my paneling down and redid the carpeted steps. I hope you read this, I really do. And I just want to say keep it up. I’m subscribing now. ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
I’m stripping many layers of lead paint from my 1910 house. For large areas, the best method I’ve found is a “Paintshaver”. This is an angle grinder with a rotating planer attached. It will strip off a hundred years of paint in one or two passes. I’m doing about 50 sq ft (5’ x 10’) in about half an hour. Needs practice (I learned on my garage) and two hands (scaffolding much better than ladder, if working high). Set nails when possible, or the cutters will cut off the nail heads; no evident damage to the cutters, may dull them but each cutter has six available edges. Good dust collection with an attached vacuum, but wear goggles and mask/respirator as some debris gets kicked upwards. Leaves the siding bare and a little rough, so you need to do a quick sanding after. Expensive ($1000-1300) but I found mine used for $227 :-) For the corners and little places the Paintshaver can’t reach, I am using a heat gun with a sharp scraper. It’s the gentlest method, but too slow for large areas. Takes me about an hour for just 5 sq ft. Pretty clean, as the softened paint comes off in strips. Lead paint precautions: don’t work on a windy day, plastic sheet the area, wear respirator and disposable painter’s overalls, use a HEPA vacuum with Paintshaver and sander, if hand sanding do it wet, when done dispose of the plastic sheet and debris (household trash ok) and vacuum the area including the stripped surface, take a shower.
@@2manycatsforadime Paint Shaver Pro (I'm not sure if there's a non-Pro version) uses an entirely custom grinder head that comes installed on a grinder body so it's an entire tool. They use sturdy custom blades that should last longer than Diamabrush, or at least mine never broke doing a ~thousand square foot deck and mine was bought used. I did try to avoid screws on the deck but when it hit them it would shave off a bit of the metal on the screw heads. If you research the tool you'll find it's famously good but also expensive. Also, I highly recommend the Dust Deputy attachment to swirl most of the paint debris into a container instead of clogging the vacuum filter.
I stripped the redwood siding on a small house once - I was careful to knock the nails a little below the surface with a punch. If you sand or grind the galvanizing off they'll rust. One other tip - redwood siding (they don't use this much anymore) doesn't take paint well, it's best to stain it.
As a Painting Contractor forever I probably would have tried wider scrapers,4-6" because it seemed like you were getting under the paint film pretty easy and was scrapable. Then Grinded the rest off with a 16 grit disc and wearing a full face respirator . That's if I had to, I probably would have passed on the job if that's what the customer wanted. Too labor intensive and difficult to charge enough in most cases. More power to you though for going for it but protect your lungs and hands and face. I would caution anybody with a heat gun. You can set the house on fire inside the wall through siding cracks or gaps in the siding or trim.
@@mrspunk61 True, cost effectiveness is a factor. Despite using a good oil-base primer on that cider I don't think it would stand the test of time. That wood looks wetter than a sponge and considering the fact that they're not in drought conditions I doubt that sufficient drying would ever occur. But all in all, that siding wasn't to appealing and in the end all you'd have is painted unappealing siding( or stained).
Wow it’s funny to see other people that had my same issues with paint! I have a house with cedar shake siding with extremely thick paint. I tried a grinder with sandpaper, which would clog the paper, then I had the confidence to use the diamabrush! It was able to blast through the thickest paint on my house. It was bubbly, cracked and chunky. The diamabrush really works well at taking the thickest paint off of any wood surface.
Another method that is painstakingly slow, but very effective at promoting adhesion is to use a heat gun and a simple putty knife. I did this years ago, but the paint job that followed was amazing!
Hello just came across your tutorial. I set out to paint my parents house a large ranch. The siding was cedar but cedar shake not clapboard. There was atleast 10 paint layers plus. The cedar shake is thinner and easily cracks and damages. After trying different methods I went with a heat gun over propane torch. The heat gun worked great. The paint bubbled up then I used heavy duty putty knife detach it from shake. It was time consuming going at it 7 days a week. Once I got it going it took 6 months to bare wood. I had people stop to check me out and were amazed on what I was doing.
Nice video. I went through something similar to this about 13 years ago. The best tool for the bulk of the work is called "the paint shaver pro" (I'm not affiliated with the company). For corners and crevices use a heat gun and various scrapers. Be sure to set your nails with a punch to get the nail heads below the surface of the wood before stripping the paint. Also, please wear a respirator when sanding or grinding. It's a big job, have fun 😁
@@stuckster I bought mine in the USA for $600 in 2008. I guess the prices have gone up. Maybe try and find a used one. The other thing is, as a diyer, you have to ask yourself, how much is it going to cost to have someone else do the job. If you start there, the subtract the cost of the tools and materials, then decide if it's worth your time and money to do the project. Many diy failures are caused by the unwillingness to acquire the correct tools and materials. The pro's don't skimp on tools, generally speaking, because it costs a lot of time to do so. Maybe sell the tool when your done with it.
I got a used Paint Shaver about 10 years ago and it's definitely an awesome option. It's similar to Diamabrush but it's a custom-made grinder head that uses blades that are probably much hardier and less likely to break than the diamond ones and the head makes it harder to tilt the blades on the surface so they won't gouge so easily. My blades never broke over the course of doing a very large deck, though I actually pulled all the nails first and replaced them with screws driven even or below the wood surface. It was a huge job. I think it did hit the screws sometimes and it would just remove a slice of metal from the screw head. Also, I highly recommend the Dust Deputy attachment to swirl most of the paint debris into a container instead of clogging the vacuum filter.
The tool you need is a Paintshaver Pro. It is similar to the Diamabrush, but has carbide inserts that shave the paint and last nearly indefinitely. The tradeoffs are, you have to set the depth carefully, set all the nails below the surface, and it does leave a slightly rough surface that requires sanding. And they're expensive, mine cost about $600 ten years ago. Worth Every. Single. Penny!
A very good tool! I bought the concrete head also and it works great on the block part of my house and the front wall. The wood part of my house, 1300sq.ft., only took me two days to strip compared to one week with other ways before, including torching off the paint!
For starters, don't use paint on rough sawn cedar. The proper product is a modern acrylic stain which won't give you the multitude of issues paint creates on cedar. I've been using an angle grinder to remove paint from cedar and pine for years. It requites a learning curve and careful touch and it's dangerous, but it really works. I also don't bother with the brush and just use 36 grip and 2 grit sanding discs
I had the same type problem on my walls. Finally settled on a 4" grinder and cheap Harbor Freight abrasive pads. It worked pretty well and the pads were so cheap it didnt bother me. Thst was split log siding. The other which I removed was a deck surface that had Rustoleum Restore flaking off it. For that i softened the stuff in full sun and with a heat gun and 4" putty knife to get long strips off quite easily.
Once you determine what is causing the moisture behind the clapboards you might consider solid stain rather than paint. Stain will be absorbed into the wood and not blister or peel as easily.
nice video. I like pressure washing for this type of situation, but it takes a very long time to dry out, its for lazyish people like me. its time to do my garage again so I think ill try the wheel cutter you used. also you are drop dead gorgeous and make it so easy to watch a video like this. thanks.
That is a tough project. I think you did a good job trying the different methods and explaining the pros - cons. Ultimately it is just a labor job. But I'm sure your finish result will be super because you will make it happen. My one thought is that I would use a tarp to make clean up easy and neat. Keep up the good work and thanks for sharing. It helps to encourage those of us that aren't as motivated.
That was great. Now I'm thinking of pulling off the siding and turning it over. Might be less work. I learned that with new siding always prime both sides and prime very dry wood with very wet primer that soaks into the wood. Thick primer just sits on top to cause the bubbling.
Regarding the blue stripping wheel, it was being held at the wrong angle, don't hold flat with the surface, also go for the lower grit version ( purple).... Stripping wheel works great for stripping paint off siding and decks, you'd be surprised how fast they work, unfortunately they don't last that long.
Use a nail set to sink the nails a little deeper in the siding. You can also buy an inexpensive moisture meter to test the moisture in your siding to determine if it is dry enough for good adhesion. Next, use a good primer on the bare wood so the paint has the best chance of adhering and lasting for a long time so you don't have to go through this process again.
No you do not "use a nail" you use a nail set and a small (4-5lb) sledge. They will set with a tap or two. Testing the wood does not dry it. The siding needs to com off.
Thanks, this was very useful to see. I would not want to tackle a job like this but I am sure it will come my way someday. When I was a kid I have vivid memories of seeing people using a propane torch to hit the paint until it bubbled/curled and then scrape with a putty knife. Seemed to work well but obviously it takes control and extra care to prevent scorching the wood.
What about using a heat gun? Get one with a wide nozzle, keep it 1 inch off the wood and one inch in front of your flexible scraper and even adhered spots will come clean off without chipping. It's a fairly slow process though, but combined with just peeling/scraping off what is already loose could actually be a good solution. Leaves no trace and you get thoroughly clean wood without chemicals.
Heat guns are great Dave but they really only work effectively on oil based paints. I could be wrong but the existing paint looks to be acrylic. This situation looks to be an absolute nightmare and the reality is that it's going to take many hours more to remove the old paint than it is to actually paint it again.
Get yourself a Metabo paint srtiper and A carbide hand scraper. Leave paint that is still secured to the siding, feather edges with palm sander. Apply 2 thick coats or Sherman Williams Primer RX sure bond. That stuff will secure any remaining paint and prevent future cracking. Make sure to have the primer tinted white, comes clear and you can't tell what was painted if it's not tinted. Metabo is the only hand tool worth it for scraping. Good luck!
This very helpful for mechanical removal of painted wood. Like many things, there are benefits and drawbacks to each. Also appreciate the link to the sponsor. Thank you Melissa!
I prefer the paint strippers, you can buy it in large buckets and just slather it on the wall and put some plastic over it for it to work a while and not dry out. It just bubbles up and let's go from the surface and you can scrape it all off in one swoop. Work in sections and you can have it really fast! Just make sure you choose some environmentally friendly as the gunk is gonna go everywhere, but I have used some that were safe to even flush down the drain.
I'm curious what stripper do you use? I have used kleanstrip, citrastrip, and readystrip on various projects in my life, and there is no way either of those is a fraction as fast as any of the methods I'm showing in this video. Especially on a vertical surface, I'd have to cover the entire house in plastic wrap to get stripper to work at all. I did try one section behind the utility lines with stripper and plastic wrap but it was as tedious as scraping. Have you stripped a whole house before? I'd be curious to know what it was like!
@@WelcometotheWoodsBlog just like any method, you'd chemically strip it in sections. For it to work decently you'd have to cover it with plastic. You can use plastic drop cloth but might want to see if a tarp works well and holds up to the chemicals....if so, just get two tarps. Apply chem and tarp, go to next section and by the time you apply chem and tarp you can remove and scrape the first section. Just keep two sections going so you not sitting around waiting for it.
I fell in love with the diamabrush a couple years back. As a builder i do hope you are able to get that cedar good and dry before painting it. Would you consider staining instead?
We'll be applying a solid stain instead of paint. Unfortunately I couldn't get the cedar looking good enough to use anything less opaque, but hopefully that solid stain let's the wood breathe!
@@WelcometotheWoodsBlog be careful with the solid stains they can cause the same issue. I would reach out to a proffessional painter in your area and see what they use. Good luck
A good option if you don't need to preserve grain, eg grinding fascia, is the 7 in. Fiber Disc Backing Pad from Harbor Freight and find someplace that sells higher quality discs. We use these at my work and you can get alot done and they don't bite as bad as the diamond wheel. You do have to be careful to not leave swirl grinding marks though, so it's good to practice in an area with less visibility until you get a feel for how each different grit disc bites. 36 grit is a good general use middle ground type of grit. Pressure Washing is good for peeling paint, but as you experienced, not great for just a little loose paint.
I use to do a lot of old homes we used hand electric plainers you can adjust the thickness of the paint very well we would use a nail set all the nails then plain the paint off .With the ceader siding put a good oil base primer on first then latex paint wound fall off trust me .Girl your looking great in those shorts . 😁
A Restorer might have been an answer for this. The guy who invented it has licensed it to several manufacturers (craftsman, power cable) and now sells it himself. You did a great job with the tools you had!🙂
pull scraper with replaceable blades, and DeWalt makes a 5" hook and loop disc sander (not orbital) with a vacuum attachment; works great on siding or shingles
Melissa, it is always enjoyable to watch your home improvement videos. May I suggest wearing a mask whenever you sand or spray new paint? Viewers need to be reminded that safety goes along with techniques. The cedar siding may have had a stain or oil in the past that prevented better adhesion of the previous pain. Taking off old paint takes a lot of work and time, but again wear a protective mask & goggles when you try this. P.S. You are delightful and lovely.
Thank you very much for your awesome video. I need to remove the paint from my deck then stain it instead of painting it again because I want to be able to see the beauty of the wood. Your video helped me decide which method to use. Thank you so much. ❤
I have the same siding, though almost all of my siding on the South side of the house split. I often wondered about stripping it. Thanks for the insight. I feel better about my decision to replace rather than repair and repaint.
I worked for a time with a painting company and all we did was prep and paint buildings all day, all year, every year. Here's how we did it. 0) Tie back anything close to walls to allow access for pressure washing and later masking and spraying. 1) pressure wash off all loose paint. 2) Let building dry for 2 days or more depending on weather (preferably warm weather for paint day at least.) 3) Tie back all trees, plants, trellises, etc. 4) Mask off all surfaces such as doors, windows, trim, roof, ground, plants, cars so no spray paint gets on them. 5) Spray paint the building. Approximately 35 gallons for a 4 bedroom single story home or two duplexes. 6) Immediately unmask everything except things that will fall into the paint such as trees, plants, trellises, etc. Unmask those about 2 hours later. 7) Go around the home hand painting any different colors or finish sheens on doors, trim, patio covers, whatever, as needed. 8) collect the money :) We would finish two to three of these every day, though the hand painting to finish could take an additional day or two as there was usually only one person per house working on that ! (Some were two floors and odd in size. Those of course take longer.) Thank you for your great videos Malissa !!!
That is a pretty big job. A couple of suggestions: Lay down some plastic to capture the paint chips, tape to bottom and go out 4-6 feet. Wear a particle mask. Compressed air also works but you need a big compressor and it will used up a lot of energy and it still won't get everything. There is a balance too of getting the job good enough without going into perfection mode that will add a lot of time and cost, lastly consider employing a small army of workers to get that knocked out pronto so you will be watching and inspecting more than actually doing. 🙂
It's calming to watch you strip paint. I wonder if there is a mechanical tool way to strip it without sanding down the grooves. If I sanded down ceder texture in some areas I would not be able to stand looking at it without sanding the whole house to keep it uniform.
Had the same type of peeling 2-3 years after painstakingly scrapping, prepping and painting my house. Only took a few years and the carefully prepped siding was peeling off in sheets. All I anticipate, was a response to moisture in the wood. The next time I corrected the things I did wrong the first time, and to this day the house and paint still look nearly perfect. Steel siding works great.
have you thought about using a wire brush attachment for your angle grinder? It isn't as abrasive as the diamabrush, but more abrasive than the sanding sponge attachment. Alternatively you could look out to lend a dry ice blaster.
Your honesty is terrific. Helpful info for most people!🥰. Your cottage house siding project seems much too hard for one person. Hopefully, you will have extra hands once you settle on a specific method.!
You should always put plastic down to catch the paint chips. I would not put another coat of paint until someone fixes the moisture problem in the wood. Are there rain gutters collecting the water? If you put another coat on should you also use a good primer your first coat paint?
Thanks for the comparison. I can't imagine how long it took to complete this job. Did you look into chemical strippers at all? I've had luck with Citristrip. But then I'm just doing some cabinets with one paint layer (not 4!).
Yep, I guess I should've included that in the video lol. Very messy, too expensive, extremely tedious, the good ones are bad for the environment, and I'd have to plastic wrap the whole house, not to mention they don't work nearly as well on vertical surfaces. Perhaps you've seen my other videos where I've stripped cabinets, furniture, etc?
@@WelcometotheWoodsBlog check out a paint shaver pro, I'm a tradesman painter, they're expensive but you can hire them, fast and no mess, worth a look . Good videos keep em coming 👍, btw my epoxy benchtop stained also.😡
I cannot imagine having to remove the paint off an entire house. I rebuilt and painted my girlfriends deck last summer and used a combination of flap discs 40-80 grit on an angle grinder along with a dimabrush and they all worked really well, but were incredibly time consuming.
That is a lot of work! After doing the same to my house, I finally removed all the clapboards and resided with PVC clapboard. 16 years later 0 maintenance, still looks great.
That was a huge job. The original problem is the primer, or lack thereof. I used paint stripper on some 20 wooden window frames. Looked like new, but after 5 years the sun and rain has damaged the varnish again. So, I would have looked at permanent solutions for the siding, and not repainting. I used the edge of the foam sanding discs to removes rust on steel, but it is abrasive on the steel.
What is that sound next to you starting @3:12 when you are doing the sponsor message? I could not identify it :) It produced a lot of vibration so must be some kind of a power tool :) Both me and my caregiver tried to use Better Help. I was turned away and told that my case is too severe for them and my caregiver could not find a specialist who knew about his condition. I am glad to hear that they worked for you ♥
I was hoping to see multi tool with sand paper adapter. Would like to remove paint from my wooden windows and can't decide what is best for this task angle grinder or multi tool or maybe even screwdriver. When the area is narrow it is trickier than just a broad wall.
Old homes with rabbited shiplap siding such as yours were designed to breathe through the walls. Things like refrigeration systems to cool the inside of the home didn't exist and so there were no concepts like 'building envelope' to seal gaps to create a closed space for efficient cooling. Your home was probably built with a whole house fan in the attic (somewhere in the center of the house) and double hung windows. To cool the interior space, you would open the windows (low sash on one side of the house and high sash on the other) and turn on the whole house fan to create a draft of air flow from one side of the home to the other. Warm air would be expelled through the attic out through a gable soffit. This brought cooler air into the home and pushed the hot air in the attic outside the home. With the advent of modern HVAC systems, walls that 'breathe' were no longer desirable. It was a common practice to install new siding over the old siding to improve the building envelope or, in some cases, a painter would caulk the overlapping shiplap seams and paint to seal them. These approaches help create a more efficient space for HVAC cooling but, in the latter approach, sealing the seams means that moisture and humidity build up in the walls resulting is the peeling paint you are now seeing. Therefore, it is likely that the wet spots you see on your shiplap siding are the direct result of moisture attempting to escape from the inside of the home. If you want to permanently resolve this problem; the best prep solution is to remove each piece of shiplap, chemically (or mechanically - I prefer a heat gun and scraper) strip the paint from the face of each board, lightly sand, and finally (this is the important part) prime ALL sides (front, back, and edges) before applying the finish paint coat. This is known as 'back-priming.' Back-priming the shiplap siding will eliminate the moisture buildup in the wood, but it won't eliminate moisture build-up in your walls. This is a separate problem you will also want to address since moisture can cause mold. You can address the moisture issues in your home by checking for proper ventilation in any room with a water fixture (such as kitchen and bathrooms). Make sure you have ventilation systems in place to remove moisture when those rooms are in use. You might also consider buying a couple dehumidifiers to lower the humidity in rooms adjacent to those walls where you notice wet exterior wood siding. A comprehensive solution to interior humidity control would include a dehumidifier solution added to the HVAC system that cools your home. One last note, the mechanical method of removing paint is fast but it comes at a cost. Exposed wood grain (like that present in your siding) is often lost with the paint. This is fine if your goal is a smooth exterior wood surface. Just remember that smooth surfaces have a lower adhesion for paint. You will definitely see any new paint peel again (probably more quickly that before) if you don't address the problem by back-priming and lowering the interior humidity. Old homes are a lot of work, but the rewards are worth it!
I just bought a house with cedar siding that somebody applied “solid stain” to. It’s basically bad paint. It is supposed to soak into the wood, but it’s flaking and fading terribly only 4 years after it was put on. I think I’m going to apply paint stripper with a pump. Then powerwash at low settings. It should be much more thorough, do less damage to the wood, and also be super fast. When I was a kid, I scraped a lot of paint off of a lot of houses. Incredibly tedious.
As a P&D I feel for you on this project as it's one of those jobs which only has a solution through trial and error. Heat gun v sandblasting etc.I would defo set down some drop cloths as the paint shavings are so small they will go everywhere. Also, use a quality wood primer after all the prep has been completed, only after all panels are void of all moisture as you run the risk of sealing in the moisture and will I'm afraid return to stage 1.Good luck, but hard work and a quality finish will be worth it in the end.
The "painter" didn't oil prime before applying the top coat. I'd use a chemical strip with pressure wash (using the correct tip/pressure) and spot sanding. Let dry completely, oil prime with tinted primer to the finish color, then apply 2 topcoats. Make sure to seal all joints/holes. Have fun. My cedar paint jobs last 20 years or more. Just lightly pressure wash/rinse once a year to remove pollen/grime.
What you need to try is a real scraper with a replaceable carbide blade. The trick with scrapers is to mess around with the angle that the blade meets the surface, until it's just right to scrape the loose paint without gouging the wood. Also good advice in other comments to use a bonding primer before the new paint goes on. Also, PLEASE wear a good N95 dust mask or respirator while you're doing anything that creates dust, even if it's not lead paint.
Yes definitely! I'll go into more detail in another video about why the cedar was wet behind the paint. Long story short, there was a humidity issue inside the house as well as an issue with the paint not letting the wood siding breathe like stain would.
@@aztodd74 Ever think English might not be their first language? Seeing as she’s from Serbia (which I discovered just as easily as you could have), I’m pretty sure that’s the issue you are having with her comment.
you don't always know for sure which direction the moisture is coming from, it is possible the wood could be wet from condensation due to no vapor barrier or inadequate vapor barrier associated with bat-type insulation, it is also possible for certain kinds of insulation to get waterlogged, which could also lead to wet siding. If there is a condensation problem going on, you want to get that resolved before putting on the new paint, especially after all the work of stripping off the old paint. Some of the wood looks dry, some looks damp. You can also do a lot with a disc sander, and those come in different sizes and you can select the grit paper you want to use. The oscillating tool will probably not work too well because they get over-heated PDQ if you use them for more than a couple of minutes at a time. And if it is a pre-1978 house, you want to be REALLY sure there's no lead paint involved with a massive power sanding project like this.
Did exactly the same job of removing multi-layers of paint and mildew off cedar lap siding. There is no simple or easy way. I used heavy duty 60 grit 6" sanding discs on an old circular sander. (Similar to an angle grinder.) Primed the new wood surface with alkyd primer, topcoat with acrylic latex paint. We sold the house, which was painted in appropriate decade color, but the current owner is now repainting to a trendy charcoal color! It looks terrible. This is so sad after spending two months of hard labour to 'restore' the 1970's split level home.
If you have peeling and your paint film is still relatively intact, your source of moisture is from the inside out, not from the outside. If you do not determine the source of the moisture, no paint will hold. Your house appears to be old enough that there may not be a vapor barrier behind the drywall/plaster on the inside. In colder climate, water will condense/freeze on the back side of the wooden siding, wetting the wood down. When the sun shines on the siding, that moisture wants out NOW. If it can't respire through the paint film fast enough, it will peel! Older oil paints constituted a vapor barrier on the outside of the house. Three or four paint jobs and the house can no longer breathe. You might want to check sources of moisture in your house and take efforts to lessen them: laundry, showing, cooking, winter time humidifiers, etc. can all add moisture. Are your bath and laundry fans working? Is your humidifier set too high in winter? You might want to paint all you interior walls which face the exterior, with a moisture retardant primer and paint. This will help keep the household moisture from entering the wall cavities. When scraping, you should use a pull scraper. A pull scraper will not gouge the wood, as will a putty knife. Burning paint off is kind of dangerous.However, there are infra red heat pads that put radiant coils very close to the surface, but will not cause a fire. The heat shocks the paint film and breaks it bond to the wood surface. The paint will then readily scrape off. BTW, you are very cute! :)
Try dumond smart strip. I used to remove layered paint from my living room plaster ceiling. It is thick, little odor and I troweled it on the ceiling in small sections of 5' X 5' and walked away. Kraft paper covering floor as drop cloth. Within 8 hours the paint starts to fall off ceiling, then I came in with blade tool and cleaned off the rest of the paint - all loose and down to original plaster finish. Worked effortless. A little messy cause I was doing a ceiling. I have vertical tongue and groove cedar siding outside on house that needs this same removal, I am going to use smart strip. You should at least try it out.
You should add affiliate links to the video description for the project you used. Was the surface damp when you painted it ? Did you apply a primer before painting ? Cedar is difficult to paint, you should check that the paint specifically said it could be used on cedar.
I just bought this house in august, so I did not do any of the previous four paint jobs. You are right in that paint on cedar needs to be specially formulated, in fact what I've learned I'll be sharing in a future video about why you really should never paint cedar because of the high tannin levels. Ideally wood siding is covered in a semi-solid or solid stain so the wood can breathe.
Good morning Welcome to the Woods. What can I say? These videos keep getting better and better - with superlative content and spectacular production values - motivational, heartwarming and inspiring. Your construction and remodeling skills are outstanding. Thanks for sharing. 😊
Great video…..I Painted my house, scraped it, used oil base primer on cedar siding…..less then a year it peeling in places all around the house, used sherwin Williams 50 year paint….they (sherwin) came out to look at it and said wood had moisture under the paint….how can I cure this problem?
Tear off the siding and replace it. Builders put it on without back priming it. Siding absorbs moisture from the back side and paint peels off each summer. Nothing will stick.
That's lots of work Melissa. U must be exhausted or way to strong.🙂. If I would have to choose color on siding, I would use high quality black stain . I used that on my doors outside and on my trailer and stain holds extremely well. It's almost thick like a paint , but much, much better choice. U have a beautiful day 👍
Paint shaver for the ship lap siding. Set at minimal depth to start. Use nail sets to counter sink the nails. Don't want to take the heads off too much. The paint shaver with the HEPA shop vacs and plastic on the ground for lead; however, I think I'd leave lead paint removal to the pros. I think in my state it's the law, but I'm not quite sure.
For having anger management issues, you took on a project that most professional painters would run from. What you are doing is labor intense to say the least and not easy. Step back for a moment and have an old painter look paint history of the house. I am guessing from experience that the cedar was initially stained. Someone later decided to paint the house one day. Prior to latex paint, people used oil paint which is most likely what the first coat of paint is. If the initial stain was a solid body stain either oil based or water based, it explains why why your house is peeling down to bare wood and taking all layers of paint with it. You may want to consider trying infra red heat and or paint stripper to see if it will save time in labor. Time is money so consider any tool you buy as an investment to save you time. Another option would be to buy a festool 125 palm sander and a Vac. The sand paper you want to use is called GARNET. This sand paper does not gum up like other sand paper. I use 60,80 and 120 depending on what Iam up against. This method will not gouge the siding. The best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. Don't look at the size of your house. Look at one side at a time and attack the problem. In the end, you can be proud of yourself as it is a labor intense project and takes a lot of "patience." This is a great video as many homeowners have the same problem. I like to keep things simple. Women put on foundation before they put on make up for a reason. If they don't use the right type of foundation or prep the surface of their skin, the make up will not perform as it should. Just like paint.
Liquid strippers are now safe to use, water based, no VOC. The wrinkled paint can then be removed with a stiff plastic brush. Heat gun for special areas.
Good job ! That is definitely a painstaking task a good sharp hand scraper possibly also us a heat gun with it then finish and blend the areas that don’t scrape off !
I don’t wanna talk negative but I’m a contractor since 1985 new construction and remodeling and you’ll be there forever with that. What you should do is just go get a power washer you can even get a small one but what do you want to do is get that just real sharp stream tip and that will take that stuff right off you won’t have to get on the ladder that high and it’ll be so much more production
Good job but I didn't see the Wagner Paint Eater. I would change your title OR try a Paint Eater. It's a great tool that professionals use. You may also want to use a 5in1 and a carbide scraper next time. 10 our of 10 for your sponsor. That is awesome to promote and I thank you.
More general paint is kind of a bad idea on cedar, it tends to crack and flake eventually. I used a pressure washer and peeled the entire paint off of a house, then repainted it with Liquid Ceramic paint. I long since moved, Google maps 101 Marshfield Place in Cary, NC, and look at the street view (the house is toward the west when on that end of Marshfield Place, looks almost gray but it's really a light purple). That is cedar siding, painted in 2004 before the house was sold. Still looks good. Use a ceramic paint that can breathe, and push up under the edges of the siding, but still make sure the paint separates and the slats can breathe. I'm sure they haven't repainted it, not needed. It still looked slick about 5 years ago, maybe even now with the sun on it. The ceramic paint was $80 a gallon back then, but well worth the money, goes on like cold cream and lasts. Looked fantastic and new/shiny for at least 10 years, and may still be shiny the house was in shadow when the pic was taken. Pretty sure Liquid Ceramic got bought out by Rhino or something at some point, but there is LiquidCeramic.com and that's the same paint logo so I would assume it's the same stuff.
Ha! What stripper do you use? I have used kleanstrip, citrastrip, and readystrip on various projects in my life, and there is no way either of those is a fraction as fast as any of the methods I'm showing in this video. Especially on a vertical surface, I'd have to cover the entire house in plastic wrap to get stripper to work.
@@WelcometotheWoodsBlog I've not used any in ages & definitely not for large areas but I thought you could just brush it on, leave & then scrape off. Messy but much quicker than this, or so I thought. From what you've said I'll defer to you as I've not actually done it myself! Cheers
I recently helped my daughter strip multi-layers of old paint from a 70 year old weatherboard [clapboard] house in Auckland, New Zealand. After trying most of the things you worked with, we found the most effective was a heat gun [adjust. temp.] with changeable ends for directing the heat where you want it. A broad, flexible blade [about 2-3 inches] will easily lift the softened paint in long strips which fall away from the boards. These are relatively easy to clean up. A long handled paint scraper with a tungsten carbide blade was used for the tougher bits. Followed up with orbital sanding with 80-100 grit paper. First coat was Zinsser Cover Stain Primer Sealer Stain Blocker [oil based], followed by a water based undercoat and two top coats [water based]. Looks terrific and we hope for many years before re-coating. Am enjoying your videos, Melissa.
Yeah I used a heat gun on many parts of my house, such as exterior door trims, corners, moldings, and other tight spots! It gets the job done no matter what. It’s just a bit slow
When using a heat gun you need to make sure it is not leaded paint and if it is is you need serious PPE.
@@jeffa847 Absolutely right! Some of the old paint was lead based [I tested it], so I wore a 3M filtered mask and protective eyeglasses. Good point. Thanks.
New Zealand? They let you work in New Zealand?
@@alharrison1038 Yeah, they do. And occasionally they pay us.
I'm refurbishing an old stone farmers cottage here in the west of Ireland and my problem was multi-layer paint peeling & flaking off the lime render on the external walls... I tried pressure washing but it gouged holes in the soft render so my plan B was to use a 115mm angle grinder with a diamond face-cutting wheel.... 😧
It took me WEEKS to do the whole exterior... but when I was finished people thought I had re-rendered it... it looked so good. 🤗
I also re-plumbed , re-wired & installed a LOT of i sulation... I lowered all the ceilings by 10" to 8' height (std. Sheet size) and built studded walls over all internal walls, again insulating as I went... 6" rigid foil-backed sheets in the external walls & 2 layers of 4" rigid in the ceilings.... presently, I'm building my kitchen cabinets from scratch, shaker doors and all...😈
(At 64y.o. .... I'm gittin too old for this kinda thing ! 🙄😂)
From the Emerald Isle
😎👍☘️🍺
Very helpful video. Thanks for showing the effectiveness of a variety of tools. It's great to see a woman doing her own house repair work. I am a single mother and home owner and I do as much of my own repair work as possible. Very empowering. My home has cedar shake siding, so I don't know what the best tool is yet, but your video has got me thinking.
Girl. I need to give you some money. lol. My house is EXACTLY like yours down to the moisture in the wood and layers of paint. I was googling and researching the best way and came across you and you helped me out. I’m literally sanding it by hand and my right arm is like the family guy quagmire episode. Bottom line: you helped me out so much and it’s really awesome to see another woman taking on the tasks I am taking on. I just wanted to say ty you so very much. I’m realizing just now I came across you before and you helped me out when I took my paneling down and redid the carpeted steps. I hope you read this, I really do. And I just want to say keep it up. I’m subscribing now. ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
After watching this I think I'm glad that I just replaced my siding. That's a big job!
I’m stripping many layers of lead paint from my 1910 house.
For large areas, the best method I’ve found is a “Paintshaver”. This is an angle grinder with a rotating planer attached. It will strip off a hundred years of paint in one or two passes. I’m doing about 50 sq ft (5’ x 10’) in about half an hour. Needs practice (I learned on my garage) and two hands (scaffolding much better than ladder, if working high). Set nails when possible, or the cutters will cut off the nail heads; no evident damage to the cutters, may dull them but each cutter has six available edges. Good dust collection with an attached vacuum, but wear goggles and mask/respirator as some debris gets kicked upwards. Leaves the siding bare and a little rough, so you need to do a quick sanding after. Expensive ($1000-1300) but I found mine used for $227 :-)
For the corners and little places the Paintshaver can’t reach, I am using a heat gun with a sharp scraper. It’s the gentlest method, but too slow for large areas. Takes me about an hour for just 5 sq ft. Pretty clean, as the softened paint comes off in strips.
Lead paint precautions: don’t work on a windy day, plastic sheet the area, wear respirator and disposable painter’s overalls, use a HEPA vacuum with Paintshaver and sander, if hand sanding do it wet, when done dispose of the plastic sheet and debris (household trash ok) and vacuum the area including the stripped surface, take a shower.
does paintshave have different heads that attach to angle grinders Vs just an all in one tool? I think the paint shaver will outlast the Diamabrush?
@@2manycatsforadime Paint Shaver Pro (I'm not sure if there's a non-Pro version) uses an entirely custom grinder head that comes installed on a grinder body so it's an entire tool. They use sturdy custom blades that should last longer than Diamabrush, or at least mine never broke doing a ~thousand square foot deck and mine was bought used. I did try to avoid screws on the deck but when it hit them it would shave off a bit of the metal on the screw heads. If you research the tool you'll find it's famously good but also expensive.
Also, I highly recommend the Dust Deputy attachment to swirl most of the paint debris into a container instead of clogging the vacuum filter.
How did u deal with the dust since it had lead.. just respirator/and the goggles/overall n catch the chips on something but what about the dust .
@@bigoboss2632 The PaintShaver is connected to a vacuum, you put a HEPA filter on the vacuum.
I stripped the redwood siding on a small house once - I was careful to knock the nails a little below the surface with a punch. If you sand or grind the galvanizing off they'll rust. One other tip - redwood siding (they don't use this much anymore) doesn't take paint well, it's best to stain it.
As a Painting Contractor forever I probably would have tried wider scrapers,4-6" because it seemed like you were getting under the paint film pretty easy and was scrapable. Then Grinded the rest off with a 16 grit disc and wearing a full face respirator . That's if I had to, I probably would have passed on the job if that's what the customer wanted. Too labor intensive and difficult to charge enough in most cases. More power to you though for going for it but protect your lungs and hands and face. I would caution anybody with a heat gun. You can set the house on fire inside the wall through siding cracks or gaps in the siding or trim.
As a painting contractor I would've given them advice on installing vinyl siding.
@@chrisdidonna7386 yes, I’ve done that many times in the past. Some jobs you just don’t want
@@mrspunk61 True, cost effectiveness is a factor. Despite using a good oil-base primer on that cider I don't think it would stand the test of time. That wood looks wetter than a sponge and considering the fact that they're not in drought conditions I doubt that sufficient drying would ever occur. But all in all, that siding wasn't to appealing and in the end all you'd have is painted unappealing siding( or stained).
Wow it’s funny to see other people that had my same issues with paint! I have a house with cedar shake siding with extremely thick paint. I tried a grinder with sandpaper, which would clog the paper, then I had the confidence to use the diamabrush! It was able to blast through the thickest paint on my house. It was bubbly, cracked and chunky. The diamabrush really works well at taking the thickest paint off of any wood surface.
Another method that is painstakingly slow, but very effective at promoting adhesion is to use a heat gun and a simple putty knife. I did this years ago, but the paint job that followed was amazing!
I kept yelling "Heat Gun" at the screen. if you get a decent one it works really well.
Hello just came across your tutorial. I set out to paint my parents house a large ranch. The siding was cedar but cedar shake not clapboard. There was atleast 10 paint layers plus. The cedar shake is thinner and easily cracks and damages. After trying different methods I went with a heat gun over propane torch. The heat gun worked great. The paint bubbled up then I used heavy duty putty knife detach it from shake. It was time consuming going at it 7 days a week. Once I got it going it took 6 months to bare wood. I had people stop to check me out and were amazed on what I was doing.
Nice video. I went through something similar to this about 13 years ago. The best tool for the bulk of the work is called "the paint shaver pro" (I'm not affiliated with the company). For corners and crevices use a heat gun and various scrapers. Be sure to set your nails with a punch to get the nail heads below the surface of the wood before stripping the paint. Also, please wear a respirator when sanding or grinding. It's a big job, have fun 😁
The paint shaver pro, whilst awesome is over $1,200 in Australia. Puts it out of reach for most DIY budgets.
@@stuckster I bought mine in the USA for $600 in 2008. I guess the prices have gone up. Maybe try and find a used one. The other thing is, as a diyer, you have to ask yourself, how much is it going to cost to have someone else do the job. If you start there, the subtract the cost of the tools and materials, then decide if it's worth your time and money to do the project. Many diy failures are caused by the unwillingness to acquire the correct tools and materials. The pro's don't skimp on tools, generally speaking, because it costs a lot of time to do so. Maybe sell the tool when your done with it.
I got a used Paint Shaver about 10 years ago and it's definitely an awesome option. It's similar to Diamabrush but it's a custom-made grinder head that uses blades that are probably much hardier and less likely to break than the diamond ones and the head makes it harder to tilt the blades on the surface so they won't gouge so easily. My blades never broke over the course of doing a very large deck, though I actually pulled all the nails first and replaced them with screws driven even or below the wood surface. It was a huge job. I think it did hit the screws sometimes and it would just remove a slice of metal from the screw head.
Also, I highly recommend the Dust Deputy attachment to swirl most of the paint debris into a container instead of clogging the vacuum filter.
Lots of good info. I have been putting off a back porch that has wood paneling that my Dad painted over sometime in the 90s.
The tool you need is a Paintshaver Pro. It is similar to the Diamabrush, but has carbide inserts that shave the paint and last nearly indefinitely. The tradeoffs are, you have to set the depth carefully, set all the nails below the surface, and it does leave a slightly rough surface that requires sanding. And they're expensive, mine cost about $600 ten years ago. Worth Every. Single. Penny!
A very good tool! I bought the concrete head also and it works great on the block part of my house and the front wall. The wood part of my house, 1300sq.ft., only took me two days to strip compared to one week with other ways before, including torching off the paint!
For starters, don't use paint on rough sawn cedar. The proper product is a modern acrylic stain which won't give you the multitude of issues paint creates on cedar. I've been using an angle grinder to remove paint from cedar and pine for years. It requites a learning curve and careful touch and it's dangerous, but it really works. I also don't bother with the brush and just use 36 grip and 2 grit sanding discs
Anyone notice the paint was fine until she picking at it. It would have been fine for another several years
@@Dee-qo7gh The paint itself was but wasn't adhered properly to the wood
Why is it dangerous to use the grinder?
I had the same type problem on my walls. Finally settled on a 4" grinder and cheap Harbor Freight abrasive pads. It worked pretty well and the pads were so cheap it didnt bother me. Thst was split log siding.
The other which I removed was a deck surface that had Rustoleum Restore flaking off it. For that i softened the stuff in full sun and with a heat gun and 4" putty knife to get long strips off quite easily.
Once you determine what is causing the moisture behind the clapboards you might consider solid stain rather than paint. Stain will be absorbed into the wood and not blister or peel as easily.
nice video. I like pressure washing for this type of situation, but it takes a very long time to dry out, its for lazyish people like me. its time to do my garage again so I think ill try the wheel cutter you used. also you are drop dead gorgeous and make it so easy to watch a video like this. thanks.
That is a tough project. I think you did a good job trying the different methods and explaining the pros - cons. Ultimately it is just a labor job. But I'm sure your finish result will be super because you will make it happen. My one thought is that I would use a tarp to make clean up easy and neat. Keep up the good work and thanks for sharing. It helps to encourage those of us that aren't as motivated.
I had the exact same problem on my house. I scrapped and repainted. The new primer came and is pealing again I will try some of the ways you showed.
When a blade breaks off on the Diamabrush and it runs out of balance could you remove the opposite blade and get a bit more use before replacing?
Yes, although doing that down to only two blades barely works. It really works best with six, ok with four, and not well with two..
That was great. Now I'm thinking of pulling off the siding and turning it over. Might be less work. I learned that with new siding always prime both sides and prime very dry wood with very wet primer that soaks into the wood. Thick primer just sits on top to cause the bubbling.
Regarding the blue stripping wheel, it was being held at the wrong angle, don't hold flat with the surface, also go for the lower grit version ( purple).... Stripping wheel works great for stripping paint off siding and decks, you'd be surprised how fast they work, unfortunately they don't last that long.
Use a nail set to sink the nails a little deeper in the siding. You can also buy an inexpensive moisture meter to test the moisture in your siding to determine if it is dry enough for good adhesion. Next, use a good primer on the bare wood so the paint has the best chance of adhering and lasting for a long time so you don't have to go through this process again.
No you do not "use a nail" you use a nail set and a small (4-5lb) sledge. They will set with a tap or two. Testing the wood does not dry it. The siding needs to com off.
He said use a nail-set dude..
Thanks, this was very useful to see. I would not want to tackle a job like this but I am sure it will come my way someday. When I was a kid I have vivid memories of seeing people using a propane torch to hit the paint until it bubbled/curled and then scrape with a putty knife. Seemed to work well but obviously it takes control and extra care to prevent scorching the wood.
What about using a heat gun? Get one with a wide nozzle, keep it 1 inch off the wood and one inch in front of your flexible scraper and even adhered spots will come clean off without chipping. It's a fairly slow process though, but combined with just peeling/scraping off what is already loose could actually be a good solution. Leaves no trace and you get thoroughly clean wood without chemicals.
Heat guns are great Dave but they really only work effectively on oil based paints. I could be wrong but the existing paint looks to be acrylic. This situation looks to be an absolute nightmare and the reality is that it's going to take many hours more to remove the old paint than it is to actually paint it again.
@@kelstra1997 Heat guns also work well with latex paints. In general, latex paints are the easiest to remove.
Get yourself a Metabo paint srtiper and A carbide hand scraper. Leave paint that is still secured to the siding, feather edges with palm sander. Apply 2 thick coats or Sherman Williams Primer RX sure bond. That stuff will secure any remaining paint and prevent future cracking. Make sure to have the primer tinted white, comes clear and you can't tell what was painted if it's not tinted. Metabo is the only hand tool worth it for scraping. Good luck!
This very helpful for mechanical removal of painted wood. Like many things, there are benefits and drawbacks to each. Also appreciate the link to the sponsor. Thank you Melissa!
I used a belt sander with 60 grit paper. used lots of them but not very expensive. worked great. easty to keep it flat on the whole board.
I prefer the paint strippers, you can buy it in large buckets and just slather it on the wall and put some plastic over it for it to work a while and not dry out. It just bubbles up and let's go from the surface and you can scrape it all off in one swoop. Work in sections and you can have it really fast!
Just make sure you choose some environmentally friendly as the gunk is gonna go everywhere, but I have used some that were safe to even flush down the drain.
Paint strippers? Do you have any idea how much those women charge? It's obscene!
I'm curious what stripper do you use? I have used kleanstrip, citrastrip, and readystrip on various projects in my life, and there is no way either of those is a fraction as fast as any of the methods I'm showing in this video. Especially on a vertical surface, I'd have to cover the entire house in plastic wrap to get stripper to work at all. I did try one section behind the utility lines with stripper and plastic wrap but it was as tedious as scraping. Have you stripped a whole house before? I'd be curious to know what it was like!
@@WelcometotheWoodsBlog just like any method, you'd chemically strip it in sections. For it to work decently you'd have to cover it with plastic. You can use plastic drop cloth but might want to see if a tarp works well and holds up to the chemicals....if so, just get two tarps. Apply chem and tarp, go to next section and by the time you apply chem and tarp you can remove and scrape the first section. Just keep two sections going so you not sitting around waiting for it.
I fell in love with the diamabrush a couple years back. As a builder i do hope you are able to get that cedar good and dry before painting it. Would you consider staining instead?
We'll be applying a solid stain instead of paint. Unfortunately I couldn't get the cedar looking good enough to use anything less opaque, but hopefully that solid stain let's the wood breathe!
@@WelcometotheWoodsBlog be careful with the solid stains they can cause the same issue. I would reach out to a proffessional painter in your area and see what they use. Good luck
A good option if you don't need to preserve grain, eg grinding fascia, is the 7 in. Fiber Disc Backing Pad from Harbor Freight and find someplace that sells higher quality discs. We use these at my work and you can get alot done and they don't bite as bad as the diamond wheel. You do have to be careful to not leave swirl grinding marks though, so it's good to practice in an area with less visibility until you get a feel for how each different grit disc bites. 36 grit is a good general use middle ground type of grit.
Pressure Washing is good for peeling paint, but as you experienced, not great for just a little loose paint.
I use to do a lot of old homes we used hand electric plainers you can adjust the thickness of the paint very well we would use a nail set all the nails then plain the paint off .With the ceader siding put a good oil base primer on first then latex paint wound fall off trust me .Girl your looking great in those shorts . 😁
A Restorer might have been an answer for this. The guy who invented it has licensed it to several manufacturers (craftsman, power cable) and now sells it himself. You did a great job with the tools you had!🙂
Thanks for this info-I wasn’t aware of this product.
pull scraper with replaceable blades, and DeWalt makes a 5" hook and loop disc sander (not orbital) with a vacuum attachment; works great on siding or shingles
Melissa, it is always enjoyable to watch your home improvement videos. May I suggest wearing a mask whenever you sand or spray new paint? Viewers need to be reminded that safety goes along with techniques. The cedar siding may have had a stain or oil in the past that prevented better adhesion of the previous pain. Taking off old paint takes a lot of work and time, but again wear a protective mask & goggles when you try this. P.S. You are delightful and lovely.
Thank you very much for your awesome video. I need to remove the paint from my deck then stain it instead of painting it again because I want to be able to see the beauty of the wood. Your video helped me decide which method to use. Thank you so much. ❤
I have the same siding, though almost all of my siding on the South side of the house split. I often wondered about stripping it. Thanks for the insight. I feel better about my decision to replace rather than repair and repaint.
This was helpful. Thank you for showing different methods and explaing the differences of each one.
I worked for a time with a painting company and all we did was prep and paint buildings all day, all year, every year. Here's how we did it. 0) Tie back anything close to walls to allow access for pressure washing and later masking and spraying. 1) pressure wash off all loose paint. 2) Let building dry for 2 days or more depending on weather (preferably warm weather for paint day at least.) 3) Tie back all trees, plants, trellises, etc. 4) Mask off all surfaces such as doors, windows, trim, roof, ground, plants, cars so no spray paint gets on them. 5) Spray paint the building. Approximately 35 gallons for a 4 bedroom single story home or two duplexes. 6) Immediately unmask everything except things that will fall into the paint such as trees, plants, trellises, etc. Unmask those about 2 hours later. 7) Go around the home hand painting any different colors or finish sheens on doors, trim, patio covers, whatever, as needed. 8) collect the money :) We would finish two to three of these every day, though the hand painting to finish could take an additional day or two as there was usually only one person per house working on that ! (Some were two floors and odd in size. Those of course take longer.) Thank you for your great videos Malissa !!!
Hmm… wonder if you are the guy that spray painted my house. A few years later, looks like crap and is peeling.
35 gallons of paint…wow thats a lot of paint and how were you competitive with all of that material costs?
I was in the same boat with same type of siding and issues. It was time to pay for vinyl siding and it was completely worth every penny.
That is a pretty big job. A couple of suggestions: Lay down some plastic to capture the paint chips, tape to bottom and go out 4-6 feet. Wear a particle mask. Compressed air also works but you need a big compressor and it will used up a lot of energy and it still won't get everything. There is a balance too of getting the job good enough without going into perfection mode that will add a lot of time and cost, lastly consider employing a small army of workers to get that knocked out pronto so you will be watching and inspecting more than actually doing. 🙂
It's calming to watch you strip paint. I wonder if there is a mechanical tool way to strip it without sanding down the grooves. If I sanded down ceder texture in some areas I would not be able to stand looking at it without sanding the whole house to keep it uniform.
Had you considered sand or bead blasting?
Had the same type of peeling 2-3 years after painstakingly scrapping, prepping and painting my house. Only took a few years and the carefully prepped siding was peeling off in sheets. All I anticipate, was a response to moisture in the wood. The next time I corrected the things I did wrong the first time, and to this day the house and paint still look nearly perfect. Steel siding works great.
😂👍
Or vinyl, or colorfast hardyboard. Sheathed and sealed WRB under.
Would this work on a fiberglass boat to remove gelcoat without too much damage??
have you thought about using a wire brush attachment for your angle grinder? It isn't as abrasive as the diamabrush, but more abrasive than the sanding sponge attachment.
Alternatively you could look out to lend a dry ice blaster.
wire wheel is very dangerous. Hard to control - I have experience with them and always recommend against them.
Your honesty is terrific. Helpful info for most people!🥰. Your cottage house siding project seems much too hard for one person. Hopefully, you will have extra hands once you settle on a specific method.!
You should always put plastic down to catch the paint chips. I would not put another coat of paint until someone fixes the moisture problem in the wood. Are there rain gutters collecting the water? If you put another coat on should you also use a good primer your first coat paint?
So what IS the cause of the moisture behind the paint? I am having the same problem
Thanks for the comparison. I can't imagine how long it took to complete this job. Did you look into chemical strippers at all? I've had luck with Citristrip. But then I'm just doing some cabinets with one paint layer (not 4!).
Yep, I guess I should've included that in the video lol. Very messy, too expensive, extremely tedious, the good ones are bad for the environment, and I'd have to plastic wrap the whole house, not to mention they don't work nearly as well on vertical surfaces. Perhaps you've seen my other videos where I've stripped cabinets, furniture, etc?
@@WelcometotheWoodsBlog I've seen almost all your videos! Great channel! And yes, chemical strippers are a mess.
I've tried on a small project and agree that they are quite messy!
@@WelcometotheWoodsBlog check out a paint shaver pro, I'm a tradesman painter, they're expensive but you can hire them, fast and no mess, worth a look . Good videos keep em coming 👍, btw my epoxy benchtop stained also.😡
I cannot imagine having to remove the paint off an entire house. I rebuilt and painted my girlfriends deck last summer and used a combination of flap discs 40-80 grit on an angle grinder along with a dimabrush and they all worked really well, but were incredibly time consuming.
That is a lot of work! After doing the same to my house, I finally removed all the clapboards and resided with PVC clapboard. 16 years later 0 maintenance, still looks great.
I am a wood restoration pro and used Diamond blade on a cabin we did, tried sand blasting, worked a bit but too much sand and work.
That was a huge job. The original problem is the primer, or lack thereof. I used paint stripper on some 20 wooden window frames. Looked like new, but after 5 years the sun and rain has damaged the varnish again. So, I would have looked at permanent solutions for the siding, and not repainting. I used the edge of the foam sanding discs to removes rust on steel, but it is abrasive on the steel.
Well done. I would try a heat gun as well. They can often work really well with soft water borne paints which is what I think you have there. 😊
What is that sound next to you starting @3:12 when you are doing the sponsor message? I could not identify it :) It produced a lot of vibration so must be some kind of a power tool :) Both me and my caregiver tried to use Better Help. I was turned away and told that my case is too severe for them and my caregiver could not find a specialist who knew about his condition. I am glad to hear that they worked for you ♥
I was hoping to see multi tool with sand paper adapter.
Would like to remove paint from my wooden windows and can't decide what is best for this task angle grinder or multi tool or maybe even screwdriver.
When the area is narrow it is trickier than just a broad wall.
Old homes with rabbited shiplap siding such as yours were designed to breathe through the walls. Things like refrigeration systems to cool the inside of the home didn't exist and so there were no concepts like 'building envelope' to seal gaps to create a closed space for efficient cooling. Your home was probably built with a whole house fan in the attic (somewhere in the center of the house) and double hung windows. To cool the interior space, you would open the windows (low sash on one side of the house and high sash on the other) and turn on the whole house fan to create a draft of air flow from one side of the home to the other. Warm air would be expelled through the attic out through a gable soffit. This brought cooler air into the home and pushed the hot air in the attic outside the home.
With the advent of modern HVAC systems, walls that 'breathe' were no longer desirable. It was a common practice to install new siding over the old siding to improve the building envelope or, in some cases, a painter would caulk the overlapping shiplap seams and paint to seal them. These approaches help create a more efficient space for HVAC cooling but, in the latter approach, sealing the seams means that moisture and humidity build up in the walls resulting is the peeling paint you are now seeing.
Therefore, it is likely that the wet spots you see on your shiplap siding are the direct result of moisture attempting to escape from the inside of the home.
If you want to permanently resolve this problem; the best prep solution is to remove each piece of shiplap, chemically (or mechanically - I prefer a heat gun and scraper) strip the paint from the face of each board, lightly sand, and finally (this is the important part) prime ALL sides (front, back, and edges) before applying the finish paint coat. This is known as 'back-priming.'
Back-priming the shiplap siding will eliminate the moisture buildup in the wood, but it won't eliminate moisture build-up in your walls. This is a separate problem you will also want to address since moisture can cause mold. You can address the moisture issues in your home by checking for proper ventilation in any room with a water fixture (such as kitchen and bathrooms). Make sure you have ventilation systems in place to remove moisture when those rooms are in use. You might also consider buying a couple dehumidifiers to lower the humidity in rooms adjacent to those walls where you notice wet exterior wood siding.
A comprehensive solution to interior humidity control would include a dehumidifier solution added to the HVAC system that cools your home.
One last note, the mechanical method of removing paint is fast but it comes at a cost. Exposed wood grain (like that present in your siding) is often lost with the paint. This is fine if your goal is a smooth exterior wood surface. Just remember that smooth surfaces have a lower adhesion for paint. You will definitely see any new paint peel again (probably more quickly that before) if you don't address the problem by back-priming and lowering the interior humidity.
Old homes are a lot of work, but the rewards are worth it!
you must have the patience of a saint to go through and tackle such a job, I think I would probably have ripped off the siding and start again.
I just bought a house with cedar siding that somebody applied “solid stain” to.
It’s basically bad paint. It is supposed to soak into the wood, but it’s flaking and fading terribly only 4 years after it was put on.
I think I’m going to apply paint stripper with a pump. Then powerwash at low settings. It should be much more thorough, do less damage to the wood, and also be super fast.
When I was a kid, I scraped a lot of paint off of a lot of houses. Incredibly tedious.
What about using a chemical? My wife bought some citrus based latex paint remover and it seems to do a good job. Haven't test it outdoors or on cedar.
As a P&D I feel for you on this project as it's one of those jobs which only has a solution through trial and error. Heat gun v sandblasting etc.I would defo set down some drop cloths as the paint shavings are so small they will go everywhere. Also, use a quality wood primer after all the prep has been completed, only after all panels are void of all moisture as you run the risk of sealing in the moisture and will I'm afraid return to stage 1.Good luck, but hard work and a quality finish will be worth it in the end.
The "painter" didn't oil prime before applying the top coat. I'd use a chemical strip with pressure wash (using the correct tip/pressure) and spot sanding. Let dry completely, oil prime with tinted primer to the finish color, then apply 2 topcoats. Make sure to seal all joints/holes. Have fun.
My cedar paint jobs last 20 years or more. Just lightly pressure wash/rinse once a year to remove pollen/grime.
What you need to try is a real scraper with a replaceable carbide blade. The trick with scrapers is to mess around with the angle that the blade meets the surface, until it's just right to scrape the loose paint without gouging the wood. Also good advice in other comments to use a bonding primer before the new paint goes on. Also, PLEASE wear a good N95 dust mask or respirator while you're doing anything that creates dust, even if it's not lead paint.
I agree - I use a carbide scraper, nothing like it - but only if you are a man with strong arms.
Good job on making of the video. You passed on the information you wanted to share coherently, in the least amount of required time.
Wondering what method you ended up going with ???
First thing is that is any of the paint lead based?
It is not, all four layers have been applied since 2006. I mentioned that it is not lead based in the video.
Have you tried a rotating wire brush for angle grinder or drill?
Yes, barely works at all. Lol
Why the wood is so wet? If you paint without drying it out, you'll will have the same pealing soon
Yes definitely! I'll go into more detail in another video about why the cedar was wet behind the paint. Long story short, there was a humidity issue inside the house as well as an issue with the paint not letting the wood siding breathe like stain would.
@@aztodd74 Ever think English might not be their first language? Seeing as she’s from Serbia (which I discovered just as easily as you could have), I’m pretty sure that’s the issue you are having with her comment.
@@aztodd74
Why do you write some poor English sentences?
you don't always know for sure which direction the moisture is coming from, it is possible the wood could be wet from condensation due to no vapor barrier or inadequate vapor barrier associated with bat-type insulation, it is also possible for certain kinds of insulation to get waterlogged, which could also lead to wet siding. If there is a condensation problem going on, you want to get that resolved before putting on the new paint, especially after all the work of stripping off the old paint. Some of the wood looks dry, some looks damp. You can also do a lot with a disc sander, and those come in different sizes and you can select the grit paper you want to use. The oscillating tool will probably not work too well because they get over-heated PDQ if you use them for more than a couple of minutes at a time. And if it is a pre-1978 house, you want to be REALLY sure there's no lead paint involved with a massive power sanding project like this.
Did exactly the same job of removing multi-layers of paint and mildew off cedar lap siding. There is no simple or easy way. I used heavy duty 60 grit 6" sanding discs on an old circular sander. (Similar to an angle grinder.) Primed the new wood surface with alkyd primer, topcoat with acrylic latex paint. We sold the house, which was painted in appropriate decade color, but the current owner is now repainting to a trendy charcoal color! It looks terrible. This is so sad after spending two months of hard labour to 'restore' the 1970's split level home.
An Eastwood STC or a Porter-Cable Drum Sander or a Rockler Restorer all work well for minimally invasive removal and prep.
So which method are you going to finish the house with ? Some ..all..?
Did my house with hear gun and scraper. Sand to feather edges where needed. Always going to be a messy process.
If you have peeling and your paint film is still relatively intact, your source of moisture is from the inside out, not from the outside. If you do not determine the source of the moisture, no paint will hold. Your house appears to be old enough that there may not be a vapor barrier behind the drywall/plaster on the inside. In colder climate, water will condense/freeze on the back side of the wooden siding, wetting the wood down. When the sun shines on the siding, that moisture wants out NOW. If it can't respire through the paint film fast enough, it will peel! Older oil paints constituted a vapor barrier on the outside of the house. Three or four paint jobs and the house can no longer breathe.
You might want to check sources of moisture in your house and take efforts to lessen them: laundry, showing, cooking, winter time humidifiers, etc. can all add moisture. Are your bath and laundry fans working? Is your humidifier set too high in winter? You might want to paint all you interior walls which face the exterior, with a moisture retardant primer and paint. This will help keep the household moisture from entering the wall cavities.
When scraping, you should use a pull scraper. A pull scraper will not gouge the wood, as will a putty knife.
Burning paint off is kind of dangerous.However, there are infra red heat pads that put radiant coils very close to the surface, but will not cause a fire. The heat shocks the paint film and breaks it bond to the wood surface. The paint will then readily scrape off.
BTW, you are very cute! :)
You are very good at this. Your video is great in that it goes through each method which is very informative and useful. Thank you.
Try dumond smart strip. I used to remove layered paint from my living room plaster ceiling. It is thick, little odor and I troweled it on the ceiling in small sections of 5' X 5' and walked away. Kraft paper covering floor as drop cloth. Within 8 hours the paint starts to fall off ceiling, then I came in with blade tool and cleaned off the rest of the paint - all loose and down to original plaster finish. Worked effortless. A little messy cause I was doing a ceiling. I have vertical tongue and groove cedar siding outside on house that needs this same removal, I am going to use smart strip. You should at least try it out.
Nice, but I also used a heat gun on some areas, and an Eastwood SCE tool w/ paint removal drum wheel
Do you try chemical dipping (paint remover) ? Its my favorite option for this type of situation.
I love your tone of voice, so calming.
You should add affiliate links to the video description for the project you used. Was the surface damp when you painted it ? Did you apply a primer before painting ? Cedar is difficult to paint, you should check that the paint specifically said it could be used on cedar.
I just bought this house in august, so I did not do any of the previous four paint jobs. You are right in that paint on cedar needs to be specially formulated, in fact what I've learned I'll be sharing in a future video about why you really should never paint cedar because of the high tannin levels. Ideally wood siding is covered in a semi-solid or solid stain so the wood can breathe.
I have a stiff wire brush attachment for my saws-all, works amazing!!
Did you sand everywhere to the bare wood?
Good morning Welcome to the Woods. What can I say? These videos keep getting better and better - with superlative content and spectacular production values - motivational, heartwarming and inspiring. Your construction and remodeling skills are outstanding. Thanks for sharing. 😊
Great video…..I Painted my house, scraped it, used oil base primer on cedar siding…..less then a year it peeling in places all around the house, used sherwin Williams 50 year paint….they (sherwin) came out to look at it and said wood had moisture under the paint….how can I cure this problem?
Tear off the siding and replace it. Builders put it on without back priming it. Siding absorbs moisture from the back side and paint peels off each summer. Nothing will stick.
That's lots of work Melissa. U must be exhausted or way to strong.🙂. If I would have to choose color on siding, I would use high quality black stain . I used that on my doors outside and on my trailer and stain holds extremely well. It's almost thick like a paint , but much, much better choice. U have a beautiful day 👍
Paint shaver for the ship lap siding. Set at minimal depth to start. Use nail sets to counter sink the nails. Don't want to take the heads off too much. The paint shaver with the HEPA shop vacs and plastic on the ground for lead; however, I think I'd leave lead paint removal to the pros. I think in my state it's the law, but I'm not quite sure.
For having anger management issues, you took on a project that most professional painters would run from. What you are doing is labor intense to say the least and not easy. Step back for a moment and have an old painter look paint history of the house. I am guessing from experience that the cedar was initially stained. Someone later decided to paint the house one day. Prior to latex paint, people used oil paint which is most likely what the first coat of paint is. If the initial stain was a solid body stain either oil based or water based, it explains why why your house is peeling down to bare wood and taking all layers of paint with it.
You may want to consider trying infra red heat and or paint stripper to see if it will save time in labor. Time is money so consider any tool you buy as an investment to save you time. Another option would be to buy a festool 125 palm sander and a Vac. The sand paper you want to use is called GARNET. This sand paper does not gum up like other sand paper. I use 60,80 and 120 depending on what Iam up against. This method will not gouge the siding. The best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. Don't look at the size of your house. Look at one side at a time and attack the problem. In the end, you can be proud of yourself as it is a labor intense project and takes a lot of "patience." This is a great video as many homeowners have the same problem. I like to keep things simple. Women put on foundation before they put on make up for a reason. If they don't use the right type of foundation or prep the surface of their skin, the make up will not perform as it should. Just like paint.
Have you considered sandblasting it using the RapidBlast system and fine crushed glass as abrasive media. Would be a fraction of the time and effort
Excellent video of different options available. Good job 👍
I'm going to try that diamabrush for my deck. Looks really effective
Liquid strippers are now safe to use, water based, no VOC. The wrinkled paint can then be removed with a stiff plastic brush. Heat gun for special areas.
OMG just thinking about what its going to take is overwhelming. You are a brave one.
Good job ! That is definitely a painstaking task a good sharp hand scraper possibly also us a heat gun with it then finish and blend the areas that don’t scrape off !
I don’t wanna talk negative but I’m a contractor since 1985 new construction and remodeling and you’ll be there forever with that. What you should do is just go get a power washer you can even get a small one but what do you want to do is get that just real sharp stream tip and that will take that stuff right off you won’t have to get on the ladder that high and it’ll be so much more production
The best method I found was to use an automotive needle scaler. Worked great especially for the small lap area.
Good job but I didn't see the Wagner Paint Eater. I would change your title OR try a Paint Eater. It's a great tool that professionals use. You may also want to use a 5in1 and a carbide scraper next time. 10 our of 10 for your sponsor. That is awesome to promote and I thank you.
More general paint is kind of a bad idea on cedar, it tends to crack and flake eventually. I used a pressure washer and peeled the entire paint off of a house, then repainted it with Liquid Ceramic paint. I long since moved, Google maps 101 Marshfield Place in Cary, NC, and look at the street view (the house is toward the west when on that end of Marshfield Place, looks almost gray but it's really a light purple). That is cedar siding, painted in 2004 before the house was sold. Still looks good.
Use a ceramic paint that can breathe, and push up under the edges of the siding, but still make sure the paint separates and the slats can breathe. I'm sure they haven't repainted it, not needed. It still looked slick about 5 years ago, maybe even now with the sun on it.
The ceramic paint was $80 a gallon back then, but well worth the money, goes on like cold cream and lasts. Looked fantastic and new/shiny for at least 10 years, and may still be shiny the house was in shadow when the pic was taken. Pretty sure Liquid Ceramic got bought out by Rhino or something at some point, but there is LiquidCeramic.com and that's the same paint logo so I would assume it's the same stuff.
Ok so which method did you end up using for the majority of the work?
Diamabrush is mostly what was used
With an area so big I'd be amazed if brush on paint stripper couldn't do it in a fraction of the time. Kinda curious why you didn't try it.
Ha! What stripper do you use? I have used kleanstrip, citrastrip, and readystrip on various projects in my life, and there is no way either of those is a fraction as fast as any of the methods I'm showing in this video. Especially on a vertical surface, I'd have to cover the entire house in plastic wrap to get stripper to work.
@@WelcometotheWoodsBlog I've not used any in ages & definitely not for large areas but I thought you could just brush it on, leave & then scrape off.
Messy but much quicker than this, or so I thought. From what you've said I'll defer to you as I've not actually done it myself! Cheers